God’s Word for You

Zechariah 6:15 A sign

by Pastor Timothy Smith on Tuesday, July 26, 2022

15 “And those who are far away will come and help to build the temple of the LORD. And you will know that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you. This will happen if you will diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God.”

There are two ways of taking this final verse of the chapter, and both of them fit the context, the theme of the book, and therefore both are fine and good ways of understanding the Lord’s message to his prophet.

First: Just as the crown hanging in the temple was a sign for future generations, so also the Lord was going to give a sign for the present generation: People from far away would come to help build this very temple, just as the four men, Heldai, Tobijah, and the others, had come with their offerings. We know that the kings of Persia, Tyre, and Sidon sent a great deal of money and raw materials to be used in the building project (Ezra 3:7). Later on, some of the merchants who came along would prove to be a nuisance and a temptation to violate the Third Commandment for the people, but sin will always appear in the fallen world, and Nehemiah took care of the problem with a clear warning (Nehemiah 13:16-18). Still later, after the temple was desecrated by the Syrian king Antiochus (1 Maccabees 1:21-24), it was re-dedicated by the Maccabees (1 Maccabees 4:54), and new “golden crowns” were among the restored decorations (1 Macc. 4:57). Eventually, another foreign king, Herod the Great, would beautify the temple still more. These additions were part of what Jesus’ Apostles wondered at (Mark 13:1).

A second way of looking at this verse is more in context of the order of the way the chapter is written: The Branch, our Lord Jesus Christ (verse 6:12) has branched out to form the new Israel, the Holy Christian Church, and many, many nations and faraway saints have helped the church to grow over the centuries. As Christ marshals his armies of voice to preach the word throughout the world, his kingdom spreads out here and there. He is, if a mortal can use such a pale word for his God, a genius at his craft. He does not depend on an individual city, language, race, or any other factor. His only tool is the means of grace. He sends it here and there throughout the world, and the devil certainly tries to stamp down whatever success the gospel has, but Christ is tireless, and his word does not stop working in the world. Its seeds spread and grow everywhere, and even where it seemed to be dead, it springs up to life once again despite all of the barren ruin that Satan surrounds it with.

This is what Luther called the “summer shower,” the cloudburst of the gospel. Some commentators like Alexander Maclaren have misquoted him as talking about God’s grace, but Luther was talking about the outpouring of the gospel. “The Gospel is like a pelting rain,” he said, “that hurries on from place to place. What it hits it hits; what it misses it misses. But it does not return nor stay in one place. The sun and heat come after it and lick it up. Experience also teaches us that in no section of the world has the gospel remained pure and unadulterated beyond the memory of a man. On the contrary, it stood its ground and flourished as long as those remained who had brought it to the fore. But after they had passed from the scene, the light also disappeared. Factious spirits and false teachers immediately followed” (St. Louis Edition, XXII,437).

The work of the branching Branch is the work of gathering God’s people into his kingdom. This is the Master saying, “Go out to the roads and country lanes and make them come in, so that my house will be full” (Luke 14:23). If the wealthy and the powerful won’t come, then they have the reward they wanted in this lifetime (Matthew 6:2), and the gospel and the reward of the life of the world to come has been given to the poor, the needy, the downtrodden, the suffering, the grieving, and all the rest who put their simple trust in Christ. “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Luke 12:34). They do not try to take the best seat at his table, the place of honor, but are content with the scraps, or just to touch the hem of his cloak, or to bring their children to be blessed by him (Matthew 19:13).

What does it mean to “diligently obey”? This is really the word “hear” or “listen to,” and when this word is doubled in Hebrew, as it is here, the doubling of the same verb spoken twice signifies an energetic doing or a certainty of the action, as in “you will surely die” (Genesis 2:17; Ezekiel 3:18) or “he will surely live” (Ezekiel 18:19, 18:21). So the Lord wants us to listen very carefully to his word, to put it into practice in our lives, and to trust in him for forgiveness, life, and the ability to obey him. Only a person with faith in Christ is capable of showing any obedience to God in any way. Anyone else who even appears to be trying to obey God does it for the wrong reason, apart from faith in Christ, which is the same as rejecting Christ, and therefore their actions are unacceptable to God, no matter how righteous or pure they seem. So he calls: “Seek me and live” (Amos 5:4). The poor will see and be glad. You who seek God, may your hearts live! The Lord hears the needy and does not despise the captive people (Psalm 69:32-33).

Ask the Lord to strengthen your faith and to give you the chance to show your love and obedience. He will give it, just as surely as he has given his gospel, his forgiveness, and the promises of the resurrection and everlasting life.

In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith

 

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